What Makes an A or an F Writer

I'm delighted to say that I'll be back to
teaching some creative writing this spring, and I
hope to share what I teach, as well as what I
learn, with my readers. I enjoy teaching
essay-writing and literature, but it is an
entirely different bag - it's my real passion
and pleasure to share what I know about fiction,
not about writing organized essays.

This past semester gave me a clearer sense of
what the difference between succeeding and
failing in my class really entails. In an essay
class, that includes listening to instructions,
citing your sources, and learning your grammar.
But the difference between success and failure in
a creative writing class is far blurrier, at
least from a student's perspective. So I'd like
to lay out what I look for in successful student
writing, as well as what we all should be doing
when we participate in a writing workshop. First
I'll look at the participating part of things,
and then I'll look at the actual writing.

Participating

A college-level writing workshop is all about
learning, and if you want a good grade, it's
about showing your teacher your eagerness to
learn. That includes avoiding all those teacher
pet peeves, like coming in late, handing in work
late, or sending poorly spelled, rudely worded
emails in the middle of the night before the
assignment is due, asking questions that were
answered in class. But for a creative writing
workshop, there's more that's expected. You've
got to participate; that means not only listening
to what your peers have to say about your own
work, but reading their work and commenting
thoughtfully on it. It means having something to
say about every single student piece that's up
for discussion - and finding something nice to
say about every piece, too. If I call on you in
class, I'll expect you to have feedback that's both critical and kind.

Writing

Of course, the workshop is supposed to be mostly
about student writing. But again, the grade here
is more about listening than immediate mastery.
If you hand in a first work that's pretty shaky
(and get a pretty shaky grade), then I expect the
student to be able to listen carefully to
feedback in class and understand what peers are
getting hung up on. Often the suggestions will
be wrong, but the fact that they are stumbling
over a particular point is legitimate. That
point probably needs work. And when you come
back with a revision or with your next work, I
expect to see that you've listened and worked at
your weaknesses.

Another thing that can be the difference between
a strong and a weak submission is the level of
risk-taking a student is willing to take. If I
see story after story about what you did on your
summer vacation, I'll be bored to tears - and
ready to grade you harshly. As I explain on the
first day of class, I expect you to write
something that you would be embarrassed to show
your parents. That doesn't mean it has to
include sensitive or personal material; it means
it has to show something that is deeply felt,
vulnerable, and bold. Safe, innocuous writing
isn't going to fly.

So if you're in my creative writing class, or any
creative writing class, and you want to do well,
I'd advise you to pay attention, do the reading,
talk in class, ask questions, think hard, be
bold, revise, fail, revise, and fail again.
That's really the only path to success - at
least in the small corner of the universe where I
make the rules.